Stolen
by LuxKen27
Summary: The Most Venerable Lady of the West seeks out her mate when she learns that she has been cast aside in favor of a human hime. Written for paynesgrey, for the 2012 fandom stocking holiday exchange on Dreamwidth.


**Title:** Stolen

**Author:** LuxKen27

**Universe:** Canon (Pre-manga)

**Genre**: Family, Drama

**Rating:** T

**Warning(s): ** Language, innuendo

**Word Count:** 2,184

**Summary:** The Most Venerable Lady of the West seeks out her mate when she learns that she has been cast aside in favor of a human hime.

_Author's Note_: Written for paynesgrey, for the 2012 fandom_stocking holiday exchange on DW.

**DISCLAIMER: **The _Inuyasha_ concept, storyline, and characters are © 1996-2008 Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan/Viz Media. No money is being made from the creation of this material. No copyright infringement is intended.

"Criminal" lyrics © 2005 Alexz Johnson, Brendan Johnson

.xxxxx.

_I found a place where I'll keep you_

_Because I won't live _

_Through you or beneath you_

_._

_Because if I take a chance_

_And if I hurt again_

_And if I let you leave_

_Feel my reckoning_

.xxxxx.

The Most Venerable Lady of the West was not one to give up easily.

If the charming but calculating Inu no Taisho thought he could simply cast her aside without protest, he was gravely mistaken.

True, he had not chosen her – but she had not chosen him, either. Their union had been decided upon when they were but mere children, a political contract to unite two of the most powerful youkai families still in existence. Indeed, it was their union that had made him a taiyoukai, the so-styled Lord of the Western Lands, giving him the unassailable supremacy to build his kingdom in whatever manner he desired. There were no longer powerful enemies standing in his way: their favored daughter now shared his bed, and had given birth to his heir.

She was his, and he was hers, and would be, forever, whether he liked it or not.

He'd tried, once upon a time. Dashing and debonair, he had courted her for a brief period before their wedding day. It hadn't been a requirement, but he seemed to enjoy the challenge of digging beneath her icy exterior, enchanting her with his wit, his cleverness, his practically-scandalous charms. He'd convinced her to leave her family's castle in the sky in order to be closer to his lands, and had built a fortress in her honor, naming it after the dynasty from which she'd descended. He'd known all of the right words to say – and all of the right things to do – all of the secret places to touch – to ultimately bring down her guard.

It had not been difficult to conceive their child.

Yet, once that familial duty had been completed…his attentions began to wander.

It was only to be expected, really. The fact that he'd stayed faithful for even that long was highly unusual, especially for males of his stature. She'd turned a blind eye to his liaisons, making herself content with preparations for the birth of their child. He'd returned to welcome his son into the world, and had pressed a pleased kiss against her brow and then the baby's, as if congratulating them on a job well done. Only war had waylaid him at the earth-bound castle he called home, and he spent most of their son's childhood fighting battles on home soil to keep his kingdom intact.

She was content to have him around, so that he might be a father to his child. He'd had more access to Sesshoumaru as his father than she had as his mother, as he was directly involved with his upbringing and education. He'd taken pride in personally teaching his son to wield a sword. It was an unusual feat – almost unheard of, in fact. But it was that very experience, more than anything else, that made her appreciate her erstwhile mate again.

It was because of the closeness that he'd cultivated with his son that his betrayal cut so deep. He'd not only abandoned her, but he had abandoned his heir as well, casting them both aside in favor of a human hime whom he fancied himself in love with.

_Love_. The very notion made her laugh. What could he possibly understand of love, an all-too-human emotion? Especially when he'd taken such drastic and callous actions against what was, ostensibly, his _family_, whose very existence he was honor-bound to protect and defend?

She'd turned a blind eye to all of his other dalliances, but this one she would not ignore. It was bad enough that he'd become enchanted by a human, but she would not stand for his desertion because of it. She would not simply _let him go_ – she, too, had a duty of protection, and she would go to the ends of the earth to keep her son from harm.

And, indeed, it felt as if she had traveled just that far in search of her estranged mate.

She'd followed him, the latent trail of his youki, which was still bound to hers. He'd been gone for nearly an entire moon cycle before she accepted the reality of his abandonment. She'd set off on the next night of the new moon, taking her true form as she soared, once more, into the sky, into the clouds she'd once called home.

She pushed herself beyond the bounds of leisurely travel, because she did not want to leave her son any longer than was absolutely necessary. He had stumbled upon his father's infidelity, and he'd taken it far harder than she'd ever imagined he could. It was the depth of her son's despair that drove her, because she did not wish to add to it needlessly.

He'd been hurt enough already.

Finally, she found him, her mate, hiding in a clutch of caves in the midst of a dense forest, just beyond what she assumed was the human hime's village. She touched down, transforming into her civilized form, and gazed around in disgust. He, the great Lord of the Western Lands, was by all appearances living like a humble human beggar, at the mercy of the elements, the weather, and the whims of forest life. Her revulsion only grew as she tracked through the dense underbrush, following his faint scent, feeling the bond of their youki strengthening as she moved closer to his location.

She came to a halt in front of a particularly large cave – practically a cavern, really, and one that was easily accessible from the outside. She regarded it for a long moment before moving forward, feeling the crackle of a barrier brush against her skin as she passed through the jagged entryway. The interior proved to be a maze of river-hewn corridors, but with her youki to lead her, she found him easily enough.

"My lady," he greeted her as she emerged into a large central space. He was standing near a fire pit, giving her his back.

She drew upon every reserve of calm she had. "My lord," she returned coolly as she eyed him. His hair was bound in a queue near the top of his head, flowing like a cascade of molten silver over the heirloom pelt he wore as a cape across his back. He wore no armor, but his sword was ever-present at his side, its hilt glinting into the glow of the firelight.

He turned, a hint of curiosity touching his features as he regarded her. "What brings you to my humble abode on this day?" he inquired, his tone flat but pleasant, as if she was a frequent visitor to this place.

"I think you know why I'm here," she replied, pressing her hands into the voluminous sleeves of her royal robes as she approached him. She steeled her spine as she met his gaze, an impassive mask blanketing her features.

She would not give him the satisfaction of causing a scene.

He simply shrugged in response, as if at a loss for words. "Truly, my lady, I do not," he mused, resting one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other on his hip.

"Did you truly think that you would be rid of me so easily?" she challenged. "That I would simply let you go, without care or explanation? You insult me, my lord."

"Such was not my intention, I assure you," he offered with an apologetic smile. "You are far more formidable than that, my lady, or so I thought."

She narrowed her eyes. "I care not if you abandon me," she retorted coldly, "but I am not the only one you've left. Do you care so little for your son as you do for me, his mother?"

He seemed to take offense to that. "Sesshoumaru is my heir," he reminded her. "Everything I've ever done – every accomplishment I've had, every battle I've won, every treaty I've settled – has been for him, and his future."

"And was this for him as well?" she asked archly, gesturing to the wall of the cave in which they stood, though the simple wave of her hand carried far more weighty implications than merely their current surroundings.

He nodded once, leveling an insolent look at her. "I've given him a sibling," he boasted, tightening his grip on his sword.

She exhaled sharply, his razor sharp words – and their nasty insinuations – slicing straight through her. Not only had he done the unfathomable in siring a child with his human whore, but now he was implying that it was _her_ fault that she'd given him no more heirs. She wasn't sure which infuriated her more: the idea that she was to blame for his wandering interests, or the idea that she was somehow inferior to a human.

"Bastard," she hissed, feeling her youki surge in her blood seconds before it flared out, filling the cavernous space with an icy chill. "Do not lie to me."

"Never, my lady," he contended, the corner of his mouth curving up in a triumphant smile when he realized his words had hit their intended target.

He may just as well have punched her in the gut. Pain lanced through her as she contemplated the notion of him fathering a child with anyone other than her, unable to stop the flood of images that suddenly bombarded her: memories of their own moments of passion, combined with imaginings of what it must've been like for him to lay with a human.

And now he'd brought a hanyou into this world. A hated, worthless half-breed, one whose very existence diminished her – and Sesshoumaru – just as much as it did him.

"You have no idea what you've done, do you," she mused, her words more of a declaration than a question.

"On the contrary, my lady," he replied, moving towards her with languid strides, "I know exactly what I've done."

She snorted with disgust. "Given your son a vile half-breed for a 'sibling,' borne from the womb of your human whore?" she spat. "Yes, I'm sure he appreciates that."

"Inuyasha was conceived with love," he informed her calmly. "There will never be anything vile about him, or his mother, I'll thank you to remember."

She gasped. "You dared to give it _your name_?" she cried incredulously. "You truly are selfish and repugnant."

He smiled, absorbing her shock with a knowing look. "And now you're free of me," he told her, reaching out to touch her, his fingers calloused and hard against the smooth skin of her cheek. She couldn't stop the sharp inhalation of her breath in response, hating how much his touch could still electrify her.

"Do you not understand, my lady?" he asked softly. "I am setting you free, just as I've set myself free."

"And your son?" she whispered, allowing his closeness – and his youki – to momentarily overwhelm her.

"I will not take him from you," he assured her, brushing his hand over her brow. "He is yours, and you may continue to raise him as you see fit." He smiled again, lifting his eyes to a point above her head. "You will not lose your title or your status, my lady. I alone will suffer the consequences of my actions."

"If but that were true," she sighed, lowering her head, her eyes falling closed. "Your son despairs in your absence."

"And I leave him in your capable hands, to soothe his upset," he replied loftily.

She simply shook her head. He didn't understand that she could offer their son no such solace. She hardly had the chance to see him, much less get close enough to touch. It was simply not the way of their people, and obviously he – her mate, the male she'd always been fated to be joined with – could no longer remember his own mother's absence from his life.

A testament, perhaps, to a mother's fading influence, especially over her male offspring.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, his lips brushing the tiny crescent moon that marked her heritage – and their son's. "I wish you well, my lady," he murmured as he pulled away, his tone sincere as he lifted her chin to meet her gaze once more. "I wish that you might, someday, find the same love that I have."

He stepped back and fell into a reverent bow, clasping his hands together in front of him, offering her one final courtesy – a formal dismissal.

She didn't leave, however, still staring at him as he turned away, resuming whatever task it was that she'd interrupted before. Her gaze seared into his back as she reached across the bond of their youki, unbreakable, even in death. It didn't ebb away from her; she supposed this would be her punishment, never being able to sever the bond he'd just as carelessly thrown aside.

"I already love someone," she informed him, her tone low and cold, before turning away one last time. "The son you've just rejected."


End file.
